Friday, 5 February 2016

'Botallack O'Clock' Old Red Lion Theatre *****

It can be immeasurably strenuous to entertain an audience
where a play only features one role, nonetheless, if the show is about the
obscure abstract artist, Roger Hilton and the process of his working it’ll be
quite painless to do so. The Old Red Lion Theatre’s production of Eddie Elks’
2011 play, ‘Botallack O’Clock’ was an outstanding performance about the weird
and wonderful process of Hilton’s artistic nature, besides this, the performances
were incredible.

‘Botallack O’Clock’ is set in Roger Hilton’s studio which
doubles up as his sleeping quarters in Botallack, Cornwall where we’re
introduced to the abstract artist, Roger Hilton who is at present slumped down
on his bed and when he awakens it looks like he doesn’t really care about his
appearance; i.e. his cleanliness leaves a lot to be desired. Hilton is a
particularly lonely individual who seems to seek comfort in smoking cigarettes
and gormandizing a large consumption of whisky. We are soon surprised that the
radio in the studio can talk with free will and has complete and intellectual
conversations force of their conversations with Roger. Moreover, the radio soon
becomes the Radio, its own unique character where humour and niggling is the
prominent force of their associations. Over the course of the performance,
Roger dabbles in his painting and writing a bit of poetry, yet, with the Radio
speaking to him his loneliness is beginning to fade. However, is the Radio
actually conversing with Roger or is he a little bit crazed? One such
conversation that Roger has with the Radio is about how the Radio is preparing
a fictional edition of Desert Island Disks where the shows allows us an insight
with Roger’s life in which his life is extremely discombobulating to realise
and comprehend. As the production advances, Roger’s intriguing personality
enables us to observe his more gentle, virtuous and incredibly droll sense of
funniness; as such, when he tries to grab a pickle from a jar with a spoon and
it drops back down into the jar it portrays a microscopic moment of
sadness.There are some flashbacks where
Hilton morphs into his younger self where he was a student studying in Paris,
France and this is due to the fact that Roger’s drinking is causing him to
think about his past. Furthermore, you can see how his obsession with whisky is
really affecting his health and he never wears freshly cleaned clothes. Before
the end of the performance, we are shown some of his most famous or for some
infamous works; nonetheless, this is slightly moving to what an impact the man
has in the arts and culture sector. At the finale, Roger switches the Radio off
and falls to his bed snoozing away and as the morning arrives, he carries on
his daily routine where he’s obviously inebriated. Elks’ narrative is preternatural
as it’s rather interesting to see the artist manages to paint in a drunken
state, but so did the late Francis Bacon and what is pretty fantastic is the
decision to make the Radio a fundamental part of the plot just like Roger
Hilton is and the communications with the two do make you chuckle.

One found the performances by the company of, ‘Botallack O’Clock’
to be ingeniously depicted with regards to how the one actor can perform
realistically to an inanimate object which has a kind of human feeling. Dan
Frost is miraculous as the painter, Roger Hilton; in particular how you can see
him with his own unique ways of working which is to drink heavily and
religiously, plus the dynamics with the Radio is a mix of side-splitting
elements and frequent bickering and it appears that in the process of this they
form some kind of bond. George Haynes is sensational as the voice of the Radio;
notably how some of his one-lines come out quite with a dry sense of delivery
which is always a joy and his voice does sound quirky and at times you do
forget that the Radio is a radio where the objects presents an actual physical
and human like existence which I find vastly innovative.

Eddie Elks’s direction is transcendent here as you can see
that a lot of time has been taken to ensure that there is an air of mystery and
a desire to think about Roger Hilton’s somewhat twisted mind and how the Radio
gives him the courage to get on with the work that he has planned to do today.
In addition to this, what I do find stimulating is that the Radio appears to be
a conscience to Roger and how the hilarity and the more tougher aspects reveal
more about Roger’s own desire to make a clear and political statement through
his artworks. Ken McClymont’s set design is extraordinary as with the intimate
Old Red Lion’s space you become instantly a part of the environment and
atmosphere of Roger Hilton’s studio come sleeping quarters. Also the scenic art
and construction is wonderful and with Christopher Naime’s terrific lighting
design and Liam Welton’s phenomenal sound design it complements the dark mood
that emancipates the piece. Overall, the experience of ‘Botallack O’Clock’ to
be a faultless production that suggests that delving into an artist’s working
process can categorically be enchanting.